Because it has sold 19,000 in China and South Korea. The Chinese publisher has just renewed the contract for a further five years!
It had sold £135,000-worth in the UK before the ‘dashing’* James Daunt put a spanner in the works by banning all-day signings in Waterstones - my forte - talking kids into the story with illustrated storyboards.
*(my hopes and sales)
Here’s a belated (received last week) email from one of my customers in Waterstones Windsor in August 2012, aged 9 (now 15):
“We met up, a few years back in August of 2012 when you were signing books in Waterstones and we talked for a while. I read the book, completely enthralled in Curd And his adventures and recently picked it up again, and read just as enthusiastically as before. I’d like to thank you, for meeting me back then, and signing my book and talking to me, I Never did contact you before now, like you had asked, but I hope this makes up for it. Thank you.”
And belated response to my second, Gothic ghost/horror story, The Flight of Birds (under my pen name, Alan Howard):
“First I owe you an apology for the
promptness of my email, be it over a year overdue. Call it the curse of
being a disorganized teenager.
I
wanted to let you know that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Not being
the greatest reader I wasn’t sure how long before I would get
distracted, but I couldn’t put it down! Truly a grim tale that had me
gripped at every page. By the end I found myself holding back tears of
emotion I was so engaged in the story.”
